


Wise Men Say... Fools Rush In

by thebasement_archivist



Category: The X-Files
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1998-07-31
Updated: 1998-07-31
Packaged: 2018-11-21 01:15:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11346924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebasement_archivist/pseuds/thebasement_archivist
Summary: Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived atThe Basement, which moved to the AO3 to ensure the stories are always available and so that authors may have complete control of their own works. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address onThe Basement's collection profile.





	Wise Men Say... Fools Rush In

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Basement](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Basement), which moved to the AO3 to ensure the stories are always available and so that authors may have complete control of their own works. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [The Basement's collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thebasement/profile).

 

. . .Fools Rush In by Djinn

Sequel to "Wise Men Say. . ."  
M/Sk

". . .Fools Rush In"  
by Djinn  
<>   
Sequel to "Wise Men Say. . ." Thanks to Kate and Kai for beta reading. All the errors and yucky bits left are solely my responsibility. Ditched the elves, kept the Elvis.  
The guys aren't mine, but oh, if they were! CC is really missing some opportunities here.

* * *

". . .Fools Rush In"

For sheer ability to blush, a redhead leaves all other types of skin tones sallow, thought Fox Mulder as he fidgeted in front of the women's bathroom in the basement of the Hoover building. True, he'd only caught a glimpse of Scully's face as she had scurried out of his office, but it had been enough. He glanced over at his lover, hovering halfway down the hall.

"You don't hover well, Walter."

"What?"

"Just an observation."

"Goddamit, Mulder! What the hell are you talking about? We have got to get this situation resolved. You have to talk to her."

Mulder sighed and pushed open the door. "Uh, Scully? Are you through in here?" He heard another explosive expletive from behind him and prudently sidled inside the restroom. "Hey, you have a couch in here."

"Mulder, this is the women's restroom. Get out." There was the faintest quaver in her voice. Anyone who didn't know her well would have marveled at her calm. Mulder, though, knew better.

"Scully, I know you are upset. It was --" he swallowed, "a hell of a thing for you to walk in on. Why did you, anyway? You were supposed to be on your way home."

"Don't you dare," Scully flung the door open on the stall farthest from the door, "don't you dare blame this on me." Her nose was only marginally pinker than the rest of her face. Clinically, a part of Mulder noted that the blush extended down her throat and probably her breasts as well. He banished the thought from his mind with only a little difficulty.

She fixed him with a gimlet gaze, and when he didn't speak, walked over to the sink and slapped her handbag down. Catching his eye in the mirror, she maintained eye contact as she spoke. "How long?"

For a moment Mulder thought she meant. . . "Oh, well just a few weeks, really. I was going to tell you."

"I find that difficult to believe." She dug into her bag, emerging with a compact. Fiercely powdering her nose and cheek, she continued. "I can't imagine what you were thinking about, if you were thinking. In the office, with, with Skinner! Anyone could have walked in on you while you -" She snapped the compact shut and thrust it back into her purse.

"I thank God it was you, Scully." Mulder swallowed, his mind racing. "If it were anyone else -"

"With Skinner! In your - our - office!" Her outrage had edged into betrayal. She had trusted him, trusted their partnership, and now he had brought Skinner into their sanctum!

"You said you were going home."

She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat and yanked the straps of her purse up onto her shoulder. "I am tired and I am going home. We'll talk about this later."

"Scully, I think we should talk about it now."

"Later." The sound of her heels on the tiles of the restroom sounded like blows as she brushed past Mulder on the way to the door.

"Scully -"

"No!" She jerked open the door and startled Skinner as he stood waiting outside the restroom. "Sir!"

"Agent Scully." He cleared his throat.

"Good evening, sir. I am on my way home." The calmness of her tone was belied by a single little sniff.

Wordlessly, Skinner stood aside and let her pass. He met Mulder's eyes and they both winced as they listened to her stomping down the hall toward the stairs.

"Christ, what a mess." Mulder walked to the sink and flipped on the tap. He bent and gathered a double handful of water and splashed his face. Leaning forward he pressed the top of his head to the mirror and rested his weight on his hands braced on the sink. "I don't think she'll report us, Walter. Hell, I know she won't. I just don't know how we are going to work this out." He sounded forlorn, lost.

Large hands massaged his tense shoulders. "That feels good." Mulder shifted a little to signify to the hands to move on to other parts of his tension-knotted back. "Ahhh."

"I don't know, Fox. I just don't know what to say, to do." The fingers dug into the painfully taut back, at odds with the uncertainty of the words. Mulder moved again, backing up until his ass rested against Skinner's crotch.

A troubled laugh rewarded his movement, then Skinner began to gently push his hardening erection against the cleft between Mulder's buttocks. The thin layers of their clothing couldn't contain the heat of their bodies. The massaging motions of Skinner's hands became caresses, teasing, stroking.

Mulder stood up, leaning back against his lover's body.

"This probably isn't a good idea."

"Walter, what can happen now?" He cushioned his head on the broad shoulder, turning to nuzzle the neck above the starched white shirt. He felt the sigh rack the broad chest behind him, and felt Skinner clasp one arm around his waist, while the other hand roamed down to stroke Mulder's cock.

"Mmmmm."

"You're impossible," Skinner whispered into his ear, then licked the stray drops of water that still clung to his cheek. Looking into the green-gray of the younger man's eyes, he caught his breath. "Fox." He licked a drop of water from Mulder's upper lip, then flicked his tongue between the lips, feeling them part eagerly, urging him to thrust his tongue inside.

Twisting around in his arms, Mulder wrapped his arms around the larger man, and fastened his mouth to his, molding their bodies together. The embrace became almost painful, so tightly did they hold each other.

They almost didn't hear the abrupt rap on the restroom door, the banging of the cleaning cart into the door jamb, and a feminine voice made husky by a three pack a day habit singing,

"Take my hand, take my whole life, too. 'Cause I can't help falling in love with you."

"Goddamit, Walter, don't hang up on me again!" Mulder sat slumped on the couch in his living room, staring blankly at the wall. His knuckles were white as his fingers clutched the phone. "I mean it, we need to talk about this. You just can't cut me off." His voice broke slightly and his stomach spasmed. The cleaning lady incident, so soon after the Scully incident, had unnerved Walter and he'd left hurriedly, saying he'd had all he could take.

"I've said all I am going to say, Mulder. I am not going to risk both of our jobs for a quickie. This behavior stops now. I think we both need a cooling-off period."

"Walter, don't - how can you say that? Is that all I am, a quick fuck?"

The silence on the other end of the phone went on too long. Mulder felt the phone slightly slide through his hand due to the sweat from his palm. He could feel his t-shirt stick to his back and armpits where the nervous perspiration had collected. He opened his mouth to finish it from his end and heard a deep sigh.

"You know it isn't like that. I just can't, Fox, it's too dangerous. We could lose everything." The weariness and pain in his lover's voice hurt Mulder's chest.

"Okay, no more dumb risks. No more sex in the office. Walter, I don't want to lose you." He bit his lip, appalled at how much he was giving away.

"I don't want to lose you, either."

The boulder on his chest lifted; Mulder leaned forward, leg jumping with nervous energy. "So we play it safe from now on, Walter. I can do that."

"Discretion." Skinner's voice was lighter, easier.

"The better part of valor." Mulder laughed into the phone.

"Oh, god, Fox. What am I going to do with you?"

"I have several suggestions."

"Then you better get over here and tell me about them."

Mulder felt a slight strain when he knocked on Skinner's door, and was running through various wise cracks to get him over the discomfort when the door jerked open, strong hands grabbed him and pulled him in. Slamming the door closed so forcefully, that Mulder felt the air whiffle past his ear, Skinner pinned him to the wall, grinding his pelvis into the younger man's.

Mulder opened his mouth to make a smart-ass remark, but Skinner captured it, thrusting his tongue inside and pumping his hardening cock against Mulder's abdomen in rhythm.

Knees buckling, Fox moaned in the back of his throat and clung helplessly to Skinner's broad shoulders, giving himself totally to the other man's ravaging mouth and demanding hands.

They slid down the wall together, welded at the mouth. Kneeling, Skinner turned and laid Mulder down on the floor beneath him. He pulled back and looked down into his lover's flushed face. "So how have you been?"

Surprised amusement clouded Mulder's words. "Good, good. And you?"

Skinner slid his hands up under Mulder's shirt, rubbing fingers gently around the stiffening nubs of his nipples. "As well as can be expected. Come here often?"

"As often as I can." Laughing he reached up and clasped both hands around Walter's neck. "Want me to come again?"

"That," Skinner leaned down and kissed him lightly on the chin, "is the general idea." He lowered his body to fully cover Mulder's. "I couldn't have given this up. Not without a fight."

"Walter."

"You do know that, don't you?"

"Walter."

"No matter what happens at work -"

"Walter!"

"What?"

"Shut up and fuck me."

"Your wish. . ."

Mulder cut off the rest of it with his mouth. Skinner bore down just as hard, and Mulder's head bounced on the floor.

"Ow!"

"Okay, we are moving this to the bedroom. Get up." Skinner rose gingerly, his almost painful erection forcing him to move carefully and caught Mulder's hand. He pulled him up and into his arms. Kissing him again, he led the younger man up the stairs. Once there, he turned and embraced Mulder again.

"Now, where were we?" Maddening nibbles at his jawline made Mulder shiver and press himself closer to his lover.

"I thought you were going to finish what you started in my office."

"When we were so rudely interrupted."

Both men fell silent and still. "Walter, I know I can talk this out with her." Mulder raked a hand through his hair. "We've been too close for too long for this to break us up."

Skinner inhaled sharply. It wasn't losing his job that Mulder feared, it was losing Scully. For a brief moment, jealousy stabbed at him, then he banished it. This partnership was what Fox needed. He'd seen Mulder without Scully, as well as the barely contained joy when she rejoined him. It was a relationship that he wouldn't, didn't dare, tamper with. But he would give almost anything to have Mulder extend him that kind of trust and commitment.

"Then you will be able to work this out with her. Tomorrow. Tonight," Walter sucked at the tantalizing lower lip of the younger man, "you are here with me." He pulled the t-shirt up and over Mulder's head, and bent to lick the hollow at the base of his neck. The salty taste of sweat and Mulder's skin was the most powerful aphrodisiac Skinner had ever experienced.

Closing his eyes, Mulder gave into the sensations. "Tomorrow is another day."

"Mulder." Muffled warning tone as Skinner burrowed his face in the hollow between Mulder's neck and shoulder, licking and biting the skin there.

"Frankly, my dear -"

"That's enough, Fox." Cupping the younger man's face in his large hands, Walter looked intently into his lover's eyes. "No more."

Mulder's hands were busy unbuckling Skinner's belt, sliding the trousers down past his hips. "All right."

Walter rewarded his acquiescence with another kiss, as Mulder's hand gripped his erect cock and tugged slightly.

"Ahhh. Leading me around by my dick again, hmmm?"

"Works for me."

Careful not to dislodge Mulder's light grip, Skinner stepped out of his pants and began unbuttoning his shirt. Seeing his lover's appreciation, he slowed down, making each button an event, showing off his physique to the best advantage, shamelessly. Only Mulder could bring this exhibitionism out in him. Only for Mulder would he flaunt himself, to coax a smile from that lovely and beloved man. I'm a fool for him, Walter thought, as he carefully pulled the shirt from his shoulders, twisting them to show off the bulging muscles.

Finished with his strip show, Walter flexed his pecs, winning a breathy wolf whistle from Mulder. His grin just a trifle embarrassed, Skinner put his hands on the waistband of the other man's jeans. "I'd say you were overdressed for this occasion."

"I'd say you were right, Walter." Reluctantly releasing his lover's cock, Mulder shimmied out of his jeans.

"No underwear? Agent Mulder, I'm shocked."

Recapturing the bobbing erection before him, Mulder grinned. "You'd only tear it off me. Now come to bed." He pulled slightly, and Skinner followed him eagerly.

Fox dreamed he was flying, the wind rushing through his hair, the feel of the air flowing rapidly over his skin. His naked skin. Looking around he saw Walter beside him, flying as well, laughing. He stretched out an arm to take Walter's hand in his own. . .

The movement woke him. He lifted his head from the pillow and gazed blearily at the red numbers on the bedside clock. 4:12 a.m. The expelled breath of a snore tickled the back of his neck. Walter. Warm and solid. Man-mountain Skinner. Mulder let his head fall to the pillow and closed his eyes again. Before sleep reclaimed him, he thought about Scully. I'll bring donuts, was the last thing that crossed his mind.

The smell of coffee roused him. Well, the smell of coffee and a strong hand shaking him roused him. "Uhh, okay, I'm up, I'm up."

"You said that twenty minutes ago. Get up, Fox. I mean it."

"Fifteen more minutes."

"Now, Agent Mulder." That Parris Island voice.

Mulder squinted at the large shape of his lover and levered himself to a dying gladiator pose. "Walter, what time is it?"

"Time for you to get up and drink some coffee."

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Mulder sat up. "Ow."

"Sore?" Smug tone, and Skinner handed him a steaming mug. "You just have time to go home and change if you hustle."

"I can wear the same suit two days running." Mulder sipped the caffeine gratefully.

"Won't Scully notice?"

"Yeah, dammit, you're right. Okay, Walt, I'm up." He stood and rolled his head, then his shoulders.

"Quite a work-out, eh?" Skinner laughed at Mulder's spluttered expletives and thumped down the stairs to the kitchen. Breaking eggs over a sizzling frying pan, he let his mind wander to what Agent Scully did notice. He wished he felt as sure that Scully wouldn't use the knowledge of their affair against them. He couldn't see her being malicious, but he could visualize her being judgmental. He sighed and slipped the spatula beneath the eggs, turning them.

Hearing Mulder walk in, he asked, "You like 'em over easy?"

"Not necessarily. Sometimes I like 'em over hard." Mulder nipped Skinner's ear lobe, getting a gentle poke in the ribs in reply. "I'll do the toast."

"That would be nice." It was nice, companionable. Skinner had forgotten what that was like, the way you could do something domestic like cooking with someone and feel this connection. He had missed this; the last few years with Sharon had been less than pleasant. The silences that had fallen between them had been bitter, not comfortable. It was a mistake he didn't plan to make with Fox.

Dear God. He was considering long term plans with Fox Mulder. He was a fool to think that this could ever become more than a brief affair, followed by months of strained discomfort at work. He'd seen others fall into that trap before, and had always felt smugly superior that he had been wiser. Fools rush in. . .

"What is it, Walt?"

"Nothing. Just thinking." He'd let himself get distracted and Mulder was too observant. This was not a man who could be easily fooled. He forced a smile and grabbed a plate, placing the eggs on it. "Toast ready yet?"

Scully was sitting in her usual chair, in front of the desk, when Mulder arrived, which struck him as slightly ominous. Usually, he was there first, poring over his files, waiting impatiently for her. Waiting, he admitted to himself, to let fly with one of his more bizarre case proposals in order to get the 'Scully' look of mixed amazement, disbelief, and forced tolerance.

"Hey, Scully, I brought donuts." He dropped the flimsy cardboard box on the desk.

She looked at him over her glasses, always a bad sign, and said nothing.

"You can have first pick. No? Okay then, I get dibs on the raspberry jelly." Nervously, he grabbed one and bit into it. Jelly squirted out and down his chin.

"Mulder." Exasperated sigh. "Here. Wipe it off with this." She dug into her purse and emerged with a tissue of doubtful antecedents. When he didn't take it, preferring instead to wipe off the excess jelly with his fingers and lick it, she gritted her teeth. "It's clean, Mulder, it's just been in my purse for a while."

"I'm getting most of it."

"It's on your tie. Here, let me, Mulder. Let me."

"I'm not a child, Scully. You don't have to treat me as if I were - you're just spreading it around."

Mutter.

"Scully, I can take care of myself."

Taking a deep breath, she stepped up closer to him, one hand clenched around his tie, pulling his head down so that they stood nose to nose. "Well, that would be a surprise, wouldn't it?" she blazed at him. She continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "You've done such a good job so far. Made so many wise choices."

"Look, Scully, I don't have to explain my personal life to you -"

"Except it's not personal, is it? It's all over the office, all over this desk!" She released him and took a step away from the desk. "You were doing it right here!" Blue eyes raked him from head to toe, dwelling on the jelly still decorating his chin and tie. "Does this happen a lot, Mulder? Every time I go to Quantico for an autopsy? Or did I just get lucky when I walked in on Skinner doing, you know, *that*, with you?" The blush washed over her face and down her neck.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I was getting lucky." The moment the smart-ass remark escaped his lips, Mulder wanted to call it back, but it was too late. Fool, fool, he chided himself. He looked at her, unsure how to proceed without making it worse.

"I don't know why this behavior surprises me, Mulder, but it does. Even you should know better than to -"

"Even me? Am I supposed to be some idiot, some feral wolf boy that the great Scully is house training?" Mulder felt the anger break through his resolve. "My relationship with Walter doesn't affect you, Scully. It doesn't affect this office or this job."

"It does when he is fucking you over this desk!"

"What do you want from me, Scully? I'm not going to apologize to you for my personal life."

"Dammit, Mulder! It's not personal! You were in this office, right here, I saw you! I wish I hadn't, but I did. I want some kind of, I don't know, guarantee, that I won't have to see that kind of thing again." There was a shine of tears in her eyes, that Mulder chose to disregard.

"Walter Skinner and I are lovers, Scully. I'm sorry if you can't accept that, but there it is. " There was an enormous relief in saying that aloud. " Maybe if you are having such a problem with it, you should apply for a transfer." Oh, god, he hadn't said that.

"Maybe I should." She looked at him, eyes wide, the pain on her face echoed in his own. "I'll be in the lab at Quantico if you need to talk to me."

"Scully." How had it taken this turn? Damn his temper, and damn her for not defusing the situation. She was the one who was supposed to do that.

"Yes, Mulder." She was struggling unsuccessfully to let the anger burn out the tears. He'd hurt her. Did he really want her to transfer out? Could he really choose Skinner over her?

"Don't make any sudden decisions." God, that was weak. The telepathic message he was trying to send was that they sit down now, together, work it out.

She didn't receive it or chose to ignore it. "I'll have to do what I think is right, Mulder." Her lower lip wobbled, and she bent to pick up her purse to cover it. "I'll let you know." She escaped then, hurrying to the women's restroom before he could see the tears rolling down her face.

"You okay, sugar?" The woman in the restroom was checking the tampax machine.

"Fine." Scully disappeared into a stall, sitting down and burying her face in her hands. How could she give up the X files? Mulder? How could he act like this? How could he choose Skinner over her? Even as she tried to erase that last thought it dragged a huge gulping sob from the depths of her being.

The woman shook her head and slammed the door on the machine, locking it. The goings on in this here restroom were something else. First, Dolores tells her about those two guys last night, then this pretty little thing all sad. Working here was better than watching Jerry Springer.

"Yes, Kim?"

"Agent Mulder to see you, sir."

Walter looked over the desk, the files and paperwork piled high, and sighed. "Send him in."

Mulder shuffled in, shoulders bent. Defeated.

"Fox! Are you alright? What have you got on your face? Did she hit you?"

"Jelly donut. Has she asked for a transfer yet?"

Skinner sat down on the edge of his desk, wanting to hold Mulder in his arms, comfort him, but restraining himself.

"No, is she likely to?"

"I don't know, Walter. I fucked it up. She wasn't much help either. She ran off to the lab, and I don't know what to do. She was really upset, more about us, than walking in on us, if you know what I mean." Disregarding Skinner's restraint, Mulder moved close to him and leaned into his lover, inviting the embrace. Skinner stood and obliged, feeling a shuddering sigh as his arms locked around the other man's shoulders and waist.

"This situation didn't come up in management training, Fox."

The dry remark surprised a weak laugh out of Mulder, who took a deep breath and stepped back. "I don't want to lose her."

"I know."

"And I'm damned if I'll lose you."

A deep joy swelled Skinner's chest, though he tried to keep it from showing on his face and in his voice. "I feel the same way."

"So what happens now?"

"I'd say the ball was in her court. We wait for Scully to make up her mind."

"I hate just waiting." Mulder moved toward the door. Hand on the knob, he looked back at Skinner. "Tonight? Your place?"

"We'll order Chinese."

A quick nod, and Mulder left the room, his step noticeably light for the few minutes spent just being with Walter.

Skinner, though, felt weighted down.

"Kim? Get Agent Scully on the phone, please. I think she's at Quantico. Tell her to come to my office." Management training. He returned to sit behind his desk, shuffling and stacking papers, without really looking at them.

"Yes, Kim?"

"She's on her way."

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

She'd been crying. The tell-tale redness rimmed her eyes, and her nose was definitely pink. Her eyes met his defiantly, though, and his heart sank slightly. This was going to be very touchy.

"Yes, Agent Scully. Please be seated." The expanse of desk between them served to emphasize the difference in their rank, but it hadn't affected Scully that way for years. Looking at her, he had to put aside the thought that even after weeping she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And partnered with Mulder. Damn. Why couldn't anything about these two be easy?

"Agent Mulder informs me that you are considering a transfer. Is this true?"

She sniffed. "I haven't come to a decision, sir." She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him. "I told Agent Mulder that I'd let him know. He is my section chief, sir."

Shit, she was pulling protocol on him. "Agent Scully, I know that you and Agent Mulder -"

"Will that be all, sir?" Scully had risen from her chair and was looking down at him.

"No, that will not be all, dammit!" Infuriating woman. Skinner took a deep breath to calm himself as she settled herself back into the chair. "We need to talk about this situation."

"Agent Mulder and I have already discussed the scene from last night, sir." Emphasis on the word scene.

"You and I haven't discussed it, Agent Scully." The authority in his tone and manner won through, and she slumped slightly in her chair, unable to keep her anger and defiance. The desire to cry again was almost overwhelming.

"Maybe it's best if I go back to the lab at Quantico." Her body language begged him to dissuade her.

"Is that what you want? Because I know that it isn't what Agent Mulder wants." A glimmer of hope. Did she want to stay with Mulder? Skinner wasn't sure what signals she was sending.

"I want to do what's best for all concerned." She looked at him directly, and his mouth went dry. Was this what her upset had been about? No, it couldn't be.

"I understand, Agent Scully." The hell he did, what did this woman want? No wonder Mulder was so frustrated with her sometimes. She was maddening. And beautiful. And looking at him with those blue, blue eyes.

"Do you, sir?" He doesn't have a clue, she thought. And her anger resurged within her. "I feel that there should be some changes made for this situation to be resolved." If she had to share her partner, then there were damn well going to be changes made.

Blackmail? Damn. How could he have let this conversation get out of hand like this? "Perhaps this is something we should discuss with Agent Mulder present."

"I think that would be the best way to proceed, sir."

"It was blackmail, Walter and you know it." Mulder speared a last bit of sesame chicken with a chopstick and brought it to his lips, regarding it.

"Eat it, Mulder, don't play with it."

"That's not what you said last night." Mulder grinned at his lover's scowl and chewed the bite of chicken thoughtfully. "Still, I guess if it makes her happy. It is okay with you, too, isn't it Walter?"

A smile played on Skinner's lips as he thought about the deal they'd all agreed to in the office. "I guess I can live with it, if you can. Are you going to eat anymore of this? No? Then come over here and kiss me."

In the basement of the Hoover building, Dana Scully put her feet up on her desk and leaned back. She surveyed the walls of the X Files office and mentally picked through the pictures as to which would go and which she would allow Mulder to keep. As for Skinner, well, Mulder would just have to bite the bullet on that one. She smiled dreamily, and stretched. Weekends were going to be very interesting.

And those pencils, she thought, looking up. Those pencils are going to have to go, too.

End

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